Control Your Career: Career Growth and Strategy for Ambitious Professionals

Are you miserable in your career? If the answer is yes, a career change might be worth exploring. But if the answer is no, that does not automatically mean you should stay exactly where you are. One of the biggest mistakes professionals make is treating career change as something that only happens when a situation becomes unbearable. In reality, many career changes happen because someone wants to...

Every manager has a different leadership style, and understanding how your manager leads can help you communicate more effectively, build trust, and continue growing your career. If you're planning to stay in your current role for a while, learning how to work with your manager may be one of the highest-impact things you can do. In this episode, I break down five common management styles, includin...

Market conditions can change your career faster than you think. In this episode of Control Your Career, Career Coach and Strategic Career Consultant Julia Toothacre discusses how professionals can stay market-ready, build career leverage, and prepare for unexpected career changes without living in constant job search mode. Over the last two decades, professionals have experienced the 2008 recessio...

Career growth is not always vertical. For a long time, professionals were told to climb the corporate ladder, stay loyal, take the promotion, and keep moving up. But that advice does not always reflect how careers actually evolve today. In this episode of Control Your Career, Julia Toothacre explores the value and complexity of lateral career moves. She explains why some professionals resist them,...

A lot of professionals still believe career growth mostly comes from working hard, doing good work, and eventually being recognized for it. But inside organizations, opportunities often begin forming before jobs are officially posted. Conversations happen early. Leaders compare notes. Someone's name comes up because trust already exists. That is where sponsorship starts to matter. In this episode...

If you've ever wondered why some people get pulled into decisions at work while others are told after the fact, this episode is for you. In this episode of Control Your Career, I break down how influence actually works at work and why it has very little to do with your title, even though that's what most people focus on. You can be experienced, capable, and respected in your role and still find yo...

Workplace reputation plays a direct role in career advancement, promotions, and the opportunities you're considered for long before any formal conversation happens. In this episode, career coach and strategic career consultant Julia Toothacre breaks down how reputation at work actually forms and why it often matters more than your performance. If you're doing strong work but not getting promoted o...

Building trust with leaders at work is what drives career growth, influence, and access to more responsibility. In this episode of Control Your Career, career strategist Julia Toothacre breaks down the five skills that build trust with leaders and shape how you're perceived at work. You can be reliable, do good work, and still not be the person leaders turn to when it matters. That's because trust...

If you are navigating a leadership change, reorganization, strategy shift, or internal restructure, you are probably wondering how to manage yourself during organizational change without damaging your reputation. This episode breaks down how to stand out at work during uncertainty, how to build influence inside your company, and how to grow your career without waiting for a promotion. Organization...

If you want to get promoted, create more career options, and stop feeling stuck at work, you need more than strong performance. In this episode of Control Your Career , Julia Toothacre breaks down how to position yourself for promotion by building real career leverage. Promotion decisions are rarely based on effort alone. Leaders evaluate trust, visibility, judgment, and risk. This episode explain...

Why do high performers get stuck in their careers? If you feel like you are working hard but not getting promoted, you may be experiencing a mid-career plateau. In this first episode of Season 13, Julia Toothacre explores why performance alone stops driving career growth and what actually moves professionals forward. Hard work gets you established, but it is not what grows your career long term. J...

I'm pulling back the curtain on my book-writing journey! In this bonus episode, I'm sharing an honest update on my upcoming book based on the Control Your Career process: what I've written so far, what I've learned, and why writing a book is WAY harder than I expected. Part 1  is for anyone curious about the book itself: what it's about, who it's for, and why I think it's different from every othe...

This bonus episode of Control Your Career is a little different, and very intentional. Julia Toothacre is joined by financial professional and podcast host Natalie Kime for a real, grounded conversation about money, career decisions, and life transitions. This is not a tactical breakdown of investments or retirement accounts. It is a conversation about how money actually shows up in real life. Nat...

You are not imagining it. This is a career podcast, and this is a bonus episode about health. In this episode of Control Your Career, I share my own health journey from the past few years. It's personal, it's slow, and it unfolded alongside work, family, and real life. I talk through what changed, what didn't, and what I had to rethink along the way. Health started to matter more to me because I c...

As 2026 approaches, career goal setting feels more complicated than ever. Between layoffs, AI disruption, shifting industries, and economic uncertainty, many professionals are wondering if traditional goal-setting even makes sense anymore. In this bonus episode of Control Your Career, Julia Toothacre breaks down how to set realistic, grounded career goals for 2026 without relying on hype, hustle,...

You are not crazy for wanting more, and you are not ungrateful for questioning if your current path still fits. Change is a natural part of career growth, but for many mid- to late-career professionals, fear and doubt make the idea of starting over feel impossible. In this episode of Control Your Career, Julia Toothacre shares how to make a career pivot with strategy, self-awareness, and confidenc...

Setbacks can shake your confidence, your stability, and your sense of identity. Whether you have been laid off, made a mistake, or received unexpected feedback, losing confidence can feel like losing control. In this episode of Control Your Career, Julia Toothacre shares how to rebuild your confidence step by step after a setback at work. Using her five-stage Control Your Career framework, Julia w...

 The world of work is changing faster than ever, and staying relevant can feel overwhelming. Do you really need to take a new course every week, become a thought leader, or completely reinvent yourself to keep up? Absolutely not. In this episode of Control Your Career, Julia Toothacre breaks down what real relevance looks like and how to maintain it without burnout or pressure. Through her five-st...

Do you hate networking? You are not alone. For many professionals, networking feels forced, fake, and exhausting. In this episode of Control Your Career, Julia Toothacre redefines what networking really is and how to make it authentic, strategic, and aligned to your personality. Julia breaks down why traditional networking advice fails introverts and overachievers, and she shares a simple approach...

If you feel drained, unmotivated, or disconnected from your work, you might be tempted to label it burnout. But what if it is actually boredom? In this episode of Control Your Career, Julia Toothacre breaks down the key differences between burnout and boredom, what each means for your well-being, and how to recover and re-engage with your career. Through her five-stage Control Your Career framewor...

 It is frustrating when your hard work does not lead to the outcome you expected. You showed up, delivered, and still the promotion went to someone else. In this episode of Control Your Career, Julia Toothacre explains how to reset your focus after a missed promotion so you can move forward with clarity, not just frustration. Using her five-stage Control Your Career framework, Julia walks you thro...

If asking for a raise, a new project, or even clearer boundaries makes you nervous, you are not alone. Most professionals know their worth but freeze when it is time to speak up. In this episode of Control Your Career, Julia Toothacre shares how to ask for what you want with clarity, confidence, and strategy, without feeling aggressive or entitled. Through her five-stage Control Your Career framew...

Office politics can feel like a maze of hidden agendas, alliances, and unspoken rules. But what if you could navigate it all while staying true to your values? In this episode of Control Your Career, Julia Toothacre breaks down how to manage relationships, build credibility, and protect your integrity even when the workplace dynamics get complicated. Using her Control Your Career framework, Julia...

Leadership is not about the title on your business card, it is about how others experience working with you. In this episode of Control Your Career, Julia Toothacre shares how to build influence, credibility, and visibility even when you are not in a management role. Using her five-stage Control Your Career framework, Julia explains how to bridge the gap between how you see yourself and how others...

Are you a high performer at work who delivers results but still feels overlooked for promotions, raises, and recognition? You are not alone. Many ambitious professionals find that hard work and reliability are not enough to advance their careers. In this episode of Control Your Career, Julia Toothacre, Strategic Career Consultant, explains the real reasons talented employees get passed over and ho...